The United States signed the Japanese surrender instrument first for the Allied powers after Douglas MacArthur.
MacArthur signed on behalf of the Allied nations, and Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz then signed as the United States representative. This made the United States the first individual Allied country to sign after the presiding Allied commander.
The sequence reflected the ceremony’s carefully planned order. Chinese representative Xu Yongchang signed next, followed by representatives of the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. Japan’s representatives had signed earlier in the ceremony.
The document was signed in two versions, one associated with the Allied powers and another with Japan. The ceremony formally ended hostilities between Japan and the Allied nations at approximately 9:25 a.m. Tokyo time on September 2, 1945.